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Top 10 Movie Sound Effects

Note: I originally wrote this article for Crunkish.com. It was first published in April 2007. Three years later, allow me to post this on my own blog.

Watching a movie without sound effects is like not watching at all. Even back in the early 1900s, when films were all silent, people have tried to simulate real-life sounds by producing sound effects live, while the movie was being projected. Sound effects make a better movie-viewing experience by producing sounds that we hear in real life. They also add to the emotions and effectiveness of the scene.

image courtesy of pic.leech.it

Usually, sound mixers and editors record sound for a particular scene. These recordings are then archived to be used in other films that they can be useful to in the future. As years go by, some of these recorded sound effects have been used over and over again that they have become ubiquitous. In fact, a few of these sound effects have found a following with many observant movie fans and editors. Others find these repetitive sound effects annoying and absurd.

Whether you are pleased or irritated, here are the top 10 most famous and most commonly used sound effects in Hollywood movies that will surely make you go â€śWhy haven’t I noticed that before?â€?

10. Animal Sounds

In movies, animals always make noise. Dogs always bark. Cats always meow. Cows always moo. What is absurd is the idea that they still make sound even when they are not supposed to. This is because animal sounds are used to set the mood.

If you have a very good attention to details you would realize that the animals actually make the same noise. In many films:

Snakes rattle even when they are not rattlesnakes.

Dolphins make the same â€śchatterâ€? sound when jumping, spinning and whatever they do — it’s the same sound.

Insects always sound like they are all wet.

In open fields, the sound of a red-tailed hawk screeching is heard even when the bird being shown is actually an eagle or a falcon.

Many horror films also use the same sound of a wolf or owl howling in the distance.

The sound of kookaburras, an Australian kingfisher, is also often heard even when the film is set in North America.

Finally, haven’t you noticed that it is the same scream that cats let out over and over again in many movies?

Hmmm. Well?

9. The Martial Art Swish

Another commonly used sound effect is the funny â€śswishâ€? sound that martial artists make when doing their moves. This swish sound is always used every time they jump, hit or kick. They also always tend to let out a high-pitched scream before the fighting-action.

image courtesy of www.jkd.com.au

The next time you watch a Chinese or Western martial art film, notice how their movements produce exaggerated sounds that don’t occur in real life. Moreover, notice how they all sound the same.

8. Explosion

If you are fond of watching action films, you might have noticed how common explosion scenes go. Another thing that you might have noticed is how sound effects are used in such scenes. Most of them sound alike.. Another unrealistic use of explosion sound effects is in space movies such as Star Wars.

image courtesy of scrapetv.com

In real life, explosions in space do not produce sound. Sound needs a medium, like air, to be heard. Since there is nothing but vacuum in space, there should be no sound. For the purpose of entertainment, however, sound effects are employed.

7. The Universal Telephone Ring

Another often heard sound effect is the Universal telephone ring commonly used in television shows produced at Universal Studios in the 1970s and 1980s.

This sound effect was made famous by the opening sequence of each episode of â€śThe Rockford Files.â€? Since then, wherever the character is — at home, in the office or even deep down in a cave — all telephones would ring with the same sound, like tittle-little-tittle-ling.

Today, many sound mixers and editors dislike this sound effect because they think it is so artificial. Nevertheless, some contemporary TV shows and movies still used this famous ring. Some examples are â€śQuincy,â€? â€śMagnum P.I.,â€? â€śLeave it to Beaver,â€? â€śGhostbusters,â€? and â€śClose Encounters with the Third Kind.â€?

6. The Godzilla Roar

There have been several Godzilla movies and through the years, Godzilla’s physical characteristics always change except for one — his famous roar. Godzilla’s roar has remained stable over the years.

image courtesy of www.gogomagazine.com

Although this sound effect can only be heard in Godzilla movies, no one can deny that it has been etched on the heart of every moviegoer who has heard it. His roar is so unique and unforgettable that no one guessed it was produced by Akira Ifukube just by rubbing a resin glove over strings of contrabass. Hollywood have produced so many monsters after him but nothing matched the roar of Godzilla.

5. Joker’s Laugh

The most sadistic laugh in history is that of Batman’s mortal enemy, Joker. The Joker’s Laugh is very distinct. It starts off quiet. Slowly, it becomes louder and low-pitched. As it gets louder and louder, its pitch gets higher and higher until it is haunting and almost deafening.

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Although Joker is only present in some Batman movies, his laugh set a trend that most movie villains followed. The next time you watch a movie, notice how the villain laughs. Does it sound like a slightly modified version of Joker’s?

4. The Tarzan Yell

Who doesn’t know Tarzan? Who doesn’t know his yell? The Tarzan yell is the ululating yell of internationally-known character, Tarzan. The yell was made famous by Johnny Weissmuller, a popular actor, in his films.

image courtesy of operachic.typepad.com

Although the yell seldom varies in the movies, its meaning ranges from â€śWhere are you, Jane?â€? to â€śI’ve been caged by some people from the city and I need to get out so whoever is there, whether you’re an ape or a person, please let me out or I’ll order a herd of elephants to come rescue me.â€? Yes, that yell can convey that long a message.

There is no available information on how Tarzan learned this very remarkable yodel but it has been used in all Tarzan movies except for â€śTarzan the Magnificent.â€?

3. The Goofy Holler

Another famous character-tied sound effect is the â€śGoofy Holler.â€? It is the cry that Goofy makes every time he falls, runs away from danger or is launched into the air or struck with significant force. This â€śyaaah-hoo-hoo-hoo-hooey!â€? sound was first heard in â€śClock Cleaners,â€? a Mickey Mouse short shown in 1937.

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Originally recorded by Hannes Schrolle, this stock sound effect has been used over and over again in many Disney movies even when Goofy is not one of the characters. Some of these films are â€śThe Hunchback of Notre Dame,â€? â€śThe Muppet’s Wizard of Oz,â€? â€śCinderella,â€? â€śAquamania,â€? â€śThe Rescuers,â€? and the recent film â€śEnchanted.â€? The only non-animated and non-Disney film ever to use this sound effect is â€śStreet Fighterâ€? which stars Jean-Claude Van Damme.

2. The Castle Thunder

If you hear a thunderclap in a movie, there is a very high chance that it is a â€ścastle thunder.â€? The castle thunder was originally recorded for the horror flick â€śFrankensteinâ€? in 1931.Since then, it has been used in countless TV shows and films that it has become a default thunderclap sound effect.

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It is called â€ścastle thunderâ€? because the sound is usually heard when a lighting illuminates an evil castle or a haunted house on a stormy night.

It has also been used in positive light in many movies such as â€śBack to the Future.â€? Other famous films, which feature this sound effect include â€śCitizen Kane,â€? â€śDeath Becomes Her,â€? â€śGhostbusters,â€? and â€śCleopatra.â€?

It has been used in many animated films as well including â€śThe Great Mouse Detective,â€? â€śSleeping Beautyâ€? and â€śBambi.â€? Today, the castle thunder is ubiquitous, seen in many TV shows and movies.

1. The Wilhelm Scream

In the movie â€śDistant Drums,â€? produced in 1951 by the Warner Bros., Captain Quincy Wyatt leads a group of soldiers, wading through a swamp. Suddenly, one of the soldiers is bitten and pulled underwater by an alligator. The soldier lets out a scream. This is the first time that this scream — the Wilhelm scream — is heard.

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Because it is so realistic, it has been used in countless movies since. You might not have noticed it but the last Warner Bros. movie you have seen wherein a character screams may have used this sound effect.

If you compile some of the scenes in movies that employed this sound effect, you will surely snicker at how the scream sounds the same in these incredibly diverse scenes. When someone falls off of a building or someone gets shot or someone is attacked by an alien monster, this famous scream is heard. Even when the character is shot or stabbed through the lungs twenty times, almost impossible to scream, you would still hear the Wilhelm scream.

Some of the movies which used this ultimate sound effect include all â€śStar Warsâ€? and â€śIndiana Jonesâ€? films, â€śPlanet of the Apes,â€? â€śBatman Returns,â€? â€śMadagascar,â€? â€śHercules,â€? and â€śPirates of the Caribbean.â€?

WRT Animal Sounds:
Swamps always have frog sounds. Frogs always sound the same in these swamps. Yet if you go to any swamp you’re unlikely to hear these frogs, as most species don’t make anything like these noises – the default recordings were made near Hollywood, and only their local frogs sound like that!

I believe the “most famous” scream in terms of times used is not the Wilhelm Scream, it is the Red-tailed Hawk scream. In fact, I believe it is the same audio recording that has been used for at least a half-century or more. Somebody should do a history of the recording. I think that recording has been passed for studio to studio, or leased between studios, because it sounds exactly the same every time in so, so many movies. It is just hilarious that the Red-tailed Hawk’s vocalization is used for crows, eagles, ravens, falcons, kites, and other species of hawks. I always thought this was one of the funniest things about Hollywood, this famous Red-tailed Hawk scream, like it is the only raptor vocalization ever used.

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